Machine for sealing cartons



H. L. JOHNSON AND M. HAYMER'.

MACHINE FOR SEALING GARTONS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.1,19I8.

1,352,197. PatentedSept. 7,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Inventors. Hurry L. Johnson Morris Ruymerr bYMWkW H. L. JOHNSON AND M. RAYMER.

MACHINE FOR SEALING (,ARTONS.

APPLI'CATION FILED APR. I. 1918.

1. 352, 1 97 Patented Sept. 7, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

1. lnvenTors. 3 Harry Ldohnson Morris Ruyrner byWWkW v 1 UNITED HARRY L. JOHNSON," or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, Ann Mortars RAYMER, or BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, AssIenoBs-Tornaor n. emu, onBosTon'MAssAoHUsnT'i's.

V -MACEINE FOR SEALING oan'rons.

Application filed April 1, 1918. Serial 1Y0. 225,878.

' To all whom it may mm.-

Be it known that we, HARRY L, Jormsoiv and MORRIS RAYMER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Boston, county of a so-calledtop sealer which is provided with ling said cartons, which conveyer is pro-1 a guideway along which the filled cartons are propelled, folding and sealing devices for folding the front, rear and side flaps of each carton as it is propelled along the guideway, and a conveyer for thus propels vided with an endless chain driving element,

v and pushers pivotally connected thereto and which engage, the cartons and carry them along the guideway as the endless chain ele- 'ment is moved.

In machines of this type where the pushers 1 of the conveyer are pivotally connected to an endless chain element, it is a common expedient to make each pusher with a tail por-' tion which extends at right angles to the body thereof and to provide a guide-rail which extends along the guideway and with which the tail'portions of the pushers have contact thereby to hold the pushers at right angles to the'chain as they are passing over the guideway. Near the delivery end of'the,

guideway the guide-rail is recessed or cut. away thereby to allow the pushers to swing backwardly as they advance, the purpose of this construction being to prevent the push ers from injuring or side-wiping the cartons as they pass around the end of the chain from one run into the other thereof. v

When a machine of this sort is operated above a certain speed, the momentum of the pushers and the action of the centrifugal force thereon causes them' to flap or slap as they are passing around the guiding or sprocket wheels at the end of the conveyer.

This flapping or slapping movement of the pushers at thedelivery end of the conveyer is a source of undesirable noise and at the- 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Sep t. 7, 1920.

, entering end of the conveyer it not only is a source of noise, but the action of straight suing the pushers as they come into engage ment wltlrthe' guide-rail produces more or:

less undesirable jar and vibration.

It 1s the ob ect of our present inventlon to provideimproved means for controlling the pushers by which this undesirable flapping I oil-"slapping movement is eliminated and by which each pusher will be straightened up a and brought into operative position at the entering end of the uideway with an easy g y means of theseimgentle movement. provements, it 15 possible to increase cons1derably the speed of operation of the machine.

7 In order to give an understanding of our invention, we'have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims. I

Figure 1 1s a plan View of a carton-sealing machine embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is an under side view of one en I of the endless chain conveyer;

In the machine herein" shown 1 indicates aguideway along which the filled cartons 2 (shown in dotted lines) are propelled during Fig. 3s a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2;

the fiapefolding and sealing operation by means of a conveyer whlch comprlses an endless chain element 3 which passes around sprocket wheels & and 5 and carries blocks or slides 6 to which are pivoted carton pushing elements 7. r Each carton-pushing ele m'ent is shown as having an L-shape, it be ing pivoted to its'block at 8 and being provided with the carton-pushingportion9 and with the tailportion 10.- Extending along the guideway 1 is a guideebar. ll against which the tail portionslO' of the'pushers rest, said guide-barcooperatingwith the tail portions-to hold .the'carton-pushing por tions 9 at right angles to the chain and in position to repel the cartons along the guideway.{ s the cartons are thus propelled along the guideway by the pushers 7, the front and rearflaps thereof are acted upon byfront andrear flap folders 12 and then acted on by the spreaders 14 which spread them, and one of said flaps is sup plied with glue as it passes through a glueapplying device15 and then said side flaps are acted on successively by side flap folders 16 and 17 which operate to fold the side flapsone onto the other. After'thefiaps are thus folded the sealed cartons are discharged onto areeeiving element- 18.

The guiderail 11 is cut away or recessed at the delivery end of the guideway, as shown at24, so'that each pusher is released andfallowed to swingbackwardly just before it passes around'the sprocket wheel 5, the

purpose of this being to prevent the pushers asthey are carried around'the sprocket wheel 5 from disturbing or side-wiping the cartons. The cartons will, therefore,always be propelled forwardly in a straight direction.

' The endless chain 3 is driven from a driving shaft. 19 which is connected by a sprocket chain 20 with a shaft 21 which-in turn is geared to the shaft 22 which carries the.

sprocket Wheel 5. The filled-cartons are fed into the machine by means of a feeding-in belt- 220 and are transferred from the belt to the guideway 1 by means of a reciprocating transfer device 23. The parts thus far described are or may beall as usually found in top sealers of this type and may have any suitable or approved construction.

'In'prior machines of this type, so far as ,we. are aware, the pushers have been free to swing about their pivots 'as they are passing around the sprocket wheels 5 and and whilethey are'travehng along the outer run 7 25 of the chain, said pushers being positi'oned' at right angles to the chain by the jar or vibration, especially if is run at any speed;

, engagement of the tail portions thereof with the end of the guide-rail 11. With this construction the momentum of the pushers and the centrifugal action to which they are subjected cause them to flap or swing more or less as they are passing around the sprocket wheels 5 and 4, especially if the speed of the machine is increased at all. This not only occasions considerable undesirable noise, but also causes an undesirable vibration. 1

Furthermore, if the straightening up of the pushers is accomplished by the engagement of the tails with the end of the guide.-

rail'll, this, operation produces more or less the machine adaptedto act on the tail portion 10 of 'pusher's.

ment, it is possible to speed upthe machine .to a considerable extent without producing any undesirable noise or vibration.

around the sprocket wheel 4 comprises a"- positiohing plate 26 which is securedto the under side of thesprocket wheele and .is

each pusher as the pusher passes around said sprocket .wheel a. This posltioning plate is shown-as having rounded ends27 a which are formed on the are of a c rcle having the same radius as that, of the sprocket wheel, and said positioning plate is 1 so constructed that the tail POItlOli 10. of

each pusher will be engaged by one or the other end thereof as theepusher passes around the sprocket wheel 4. The operation 2; The pushers will usually be folded back against the chain as they pass along the outer run 25 thereof, asshown at a in Fi g. 2,]and the tail portion of the pusherwill thus extend inwardly from the chain "As the pusher approaches'the sprocket wheel; 4, the inwardly-projecting tail portion will engage one of the ends of the positioning plate 26, and said plate will have a rocking slidingaction against the tail, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 2, which causes thepusher to be gradually swung from its inoperative position to its operative position in which the carton-pushing portion 9 stands at right angles to the chain. The pusher is provided with a boss 31. which'rests. against the surface of the slide or block when the pusher is in its operative position. The action of the positioning plate26 against the pusher brings the boss 31 against the surface-82 and holds the pusher rigidly in its straightenedup or right-angular position until it leaves the sprocket wheel, at which time the .tail portion of the pusher will come into en} gagement with the guide-rail. .While the pusher is trayelingthrough the guideway it is held in its operative position. by they 85 r of this device will be clearly seen from Fig.

guide-rail 11, as above described. This action of the positioning plate. against the pushers causes them to be straightened up with a gradual movement and without any] jar or vibration, even though the machine is operating at a high speed. i

When the pushers pass beyond the end of the guide rail 11 at the deliveryend of the guideway, the pressure of, the cartons against the carton-propelling portion. 9 thereof will cause them to swing back ward ly,' and if the machine is operating at highspeed, the backward folding movement of thepushers as the tails reach the recessed; portion 24 apt to be a rapid one which will cause a chattering movement of the Further, :as the pushers ,pass

thus increasing their chattering or flapping movement. To prevent this, we have pro vided .means for controlling the swinging movement of the pushers after they leave the guide-rail 11,.which means eliminates the chattering or flapping movement thereof. In the present embodiment of our invention, this controlling means is in the form of a friction device interposed be tween each pusher and the slide or blCk y6 to which it is pivoted, said friction device being constructed so that it will prevent this undesirable chattering or flapping movement. While any suitable friction device capable of accomplishing the desired end may be used, we have herein shown for this purpose a friction device in the form of a friction pin 28 carried by each block or slide 6 and frictionally engagingthe surface 29 of the corresponding pusher. Each-pm is acted upon by a spring 30 whlch y eld-1 ingly holds it against the surface 29. This friction pin produces sufficient friction to hold the pushers in any position which they may assume while they are passing around the sprocket wheel and along the rear run of the endless chain. All undesirable swinging" and flapping of the pushers is thus eliminated.

'We claim:

1. In a carton-sealing machine, the com- 'bination with a guideway, of an endless chain element extending longitudinally thereof, a sprocket wheel at the entering end of said guideway around which said chain passes, a plurality of pushers' pivotally connected to said endless chain and by which cartons are propelled along the guideway, said pushers being constructed to fold back against the chain, and means carried directly by the sprocket wheel to positively position each pusher in its operative position relative to the chain.

2. In adevice of the class described, the combination with an endless-chain element,

'of sprocketwheels around which said ele-- ment passes, a guideway extending longitudinally of one of the runs of said chain element, a plurality of blocks secured to said chain and situated on the exterior, face thereof,a pusher pivotally'carried by each block, each pusher being situated on the exterior of the chain and constructed to fold backwardly against said chain, a forked tail thereto, the arms of said forked tail swinging across the chain when the pusher folds backwardly thereagainst, and means carried by the sprocket wheel at the entering end of the guideway to engage one branch of the tail of each pusher as said pusher passes 'around said wheel thereby to positively.- bring the pusher into 'operative position. relative to the chain.

3. In a device of the class carton-propelling elementpivotally coninterposed between each carton-propelling extending from each pusher at right angles element and its block and which is operative I in all positions of said element to control the V swinging movement thereof.

4. In a device of the class described, the

combination with a guideway, of an endless,

chain element thereof, a pluralityof blocks carried by said endlesschain, a pusher pivotally connected to each block and adapted to propel a carton along the guideway, and a friction de block and which is operative in all positions of said pusher for controlling the swinging movement thereof relative to theblock.

thereof, a plurality of carton-propelling elements pivotally connected to said end extending longitudinally "vice interposed between each pusher and its less-chain element, means for retaining the carton-propelling elements in operative p0 sition as they pass along the guideway, said means being constructed to release the carton-propelling elements at the discharge end of the guideway, to control the swinging movement of the carton-propelling elements relative to the chain after they are released.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

. ,f HARRYL. JOHNSON.

MORRIS ,RAYMER.

and frictional means. 

